Top five: Social media blunders

Social networking has become a huge feature in the lives of many footballers throughout the world.

No matter what league you play in or standard of football you play, the social sphere has taken the footballing world by storm.

However, social networking can be an extremely dangerous tool if used in the wrong way.

Recently, many footballers are beginning to find this out, and sometimes the hard way. Today we look at some of the worst social networking blunders.

Michel Morganella | A tweet that cost him his international career

Michel Morganella is a Swiss footballer currently playing for Palermo in Serie A. The 23-year-old is seen as a bright prospect for not just Palermo, but also the Swiss National Team. However, all this went horribly wrong on the 30th of July 2012.

Despite having appeared only once for the national team previously, Morganella managed to earn himself a call up to the 2012 Olympic Squad. Now for many, playing football for your country at the Olympics is one of the ultimate honours of a footballer’s career. Therefore, it is only natural for things to get a little heated between opposition.

Unsurprisingly, neither Olympic Committee nor the Swiss FA took too kindly to this outburst. Morganella was quickly expelled from the games, and later apologised.

Andy Carroll | Blast from the past

Now, we're not entirely sure many people even know what Bebo is - but Andy Carroll sure does. The young £35 million striker's created and account as an enthusiastic 16-year-old whilst playing for Newcastle. The Bebo account arose in mid-2012 much to the hilarity of many football fans.

Just some of the Liverpool players musings include asking readers to "look for the bare necessities" and telling us that he is usually happy if "(I) am spending sum time with me gf if ive got 1". Carroll even urges his viewers to talk to him on MSN, saying "add me if you want."

Sometimes it's not the footballers that cause the controversy, but are rather the subject of it themselves. This is no more true than it is for Ryan Giggs, when in May 2011 it was revealed that Giggs was suing a Twitter account by the name of @InjunctionSuper for revealing details of celebrities, including Giggs, that had "scored goals" with model Imogen Thomas in extramarital affairs.

The news quickly spread throughout the Twitter world and was eventually too powerful to stop.

This is just one example of how powerful the social networking sphere can really be. Although the allegations never really affected Giggs career, if the situation had occurred for a much less distinguished player, than the consequences could have been much more serious.

Joey Barton | Defaming his employers, again.

In August 2011, Newcastle FC told Joey Barton that he could leave on a free transfer. The reason? He had publicly criticized the club on Twitter.

Although Barton is most certainly no stranger to controversy, he took to Twitter to vent his feelings about the Newcastle board, tweeting “And again it would be left to those magnificent fans to pick up the remnants of their once great football club. #hadenoughofcertainpeople”.

Barton was allowed to leave on a free after this, which I suppose is the closest a club can come to actually sacking a player. This again shows the power social networking can have on someone's career.

Thibaut Courtois | Chelsea's love triangle part II

It seems like Chelsea players just can't seem to keep their hands off of teammates girlfriends, can they?

The affair supposedly started when Courtois and Lijnen started exchanging explicit pictures on Facebook, which ended up with Lijnen 'visiting' Courtois in Madrid from Bremen, where they had a brief liaison.

However, unlike John Terry and Wayne Bridge, the two have apparently made up, and even joke about the whole situation.

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DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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